This invention relates to tubular medical grafts, and more particularly to connectors for use in making tubular connections between tubular grafts and a patient's tubular tissue structures.
Goldsteen et al. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/745,618, filed Nov. 7, 1996, Sullivan et al. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/844,992, filed Apr. 23, 1997, and Sullivan et al. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/869,808, filed Jun. 5, 1997 (all of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein) show examples of medical procedures in which it is necessary to make one or more tubular connections between a patient's tubular body tissue structures and a tubular graft. The tubular graft may be either natural body tissue relocated from elsewhere in the patient's body, an artificial graft structure, or a combination of natural and artificial structures. In the exemplary procedures shown in the three references mentioned above it is typically necessary to connect an end of the graft to a side wall of the patient's pre-existing body tubing (e.g., a blood vessel). The three aforementioned patent applications deal primarily with procedures that are performed to the greatest extent possible percutaneously and through lumens of a patient's tubular body structures. Thus a graft connector is sometimes needed that can be delivered and installed via such lumens. It is preferable that in such a graft connector a minimum of hardware be required to pass through the aperture in the side wall of the patient's tubular body structure to engage the graft connector, because hardware passing through an artificially created aperture can damage the aperture, or widen it more than necessary. At other times, a graft connector is needed that can be installed during more traditional surgical procedures.
It is important for a graft connector to be easy and quick to install (whether percutaneously or surgically), but to be secure after installation. It is typically preferable for a graft connector to be relatively flexible after installation so that it does not form an unnaturally rigid structure in the patient's body.
In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to be able to provide an improved graft connector for making a tubular connection between a tubular graft and a patient's tubular body tissue structures.
It would also be desirable to be able to provide a tubular graft connector that is easy and quick to install, in some cases percutaneously and in some cases surgically, but which is strong and secure after installation.
It would further be desirable to be able to provide a tubular graft connector that can be installed with a minimum of hardware passing through the aperture in the side wall of the tubular body structure to which the tubular graft is being attached.